Agni & Rudra

Agni & Rudra are a pair of living, twin demon swords sealed away by Sparda himself in Temen-ni-gru. They are the boss of Mission 5 in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. After their defeat, they're playable as weapons to Dante.

Appearance
Both swords possess the same design as a uniquely shaped scimitar with jagged edges with a color scheme befitting for their respective element in which they manipulate. The blades are serrated with the segments appearing to interlock like a Celtic knot. The ends of both are slightly jagged but not pointed as a normal blade would be. The pommels form the talking "heads", and the guards of both are round and plain. While Agni sports a red theme, Rudra sports the blue theme.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Dante comes across the brothers in the Firestorm Chamber. They are at first cordial to Dante, discussing how to be "gracious hosts", but when he demands to be let through their gate, they attack. After Dante defeats them, they ask to be taken with him as Devil Arms, and Dante agrees on the condition that they remain quiet...which they repeatedly fail to uphold, for which they are punished.

Personality
Compared to most other demons which are belligerent towards human beings just by their nature, Agni and Rudra desire to be a gracious host to anyone who enters their room, provided they don't want to go through the door they guard. Agni has some knowledge of human customs and gestures, as Rudra doesn't know what a "sigh" is, though Agni doesn't have the chance to explain. Overall they generally possess affable demeanors (especially in comparison to other demons), despite failing to uphold Dante's stipulation that they don't talk on the adventure.

Powers and Abilities
Agni and Rudra have the power of fire and wind, respectively. They generally fight together as a team and use powerful single, single strike attacks. While separate, they will both imbue their blades with their respective elements to augment their attacks. If one host should die in combat, Agni and Rudra will be dual wielded by one host, with the original owner of the host body taking control and using the other to augment their own abilities.

Agni:

Agni has a Crawler-like ability that will send flames along the ground in a straight line. While in control of both blades, Agni will use a wind-only Twister-like ability while simultaneously launching a Crawler attack. He will also swing the blades, sending fire around his general area.

Rudra:

Rudra uses a Twister-like ability to create a tornado around himself. While in control of both blades, Rudra will also use the Twister-Crawler attack. He has a long range technique where he throws wind and fire blades at the player.

Gameplay
Dante wields the twin blades simultaneously. He uses wide arching swings and multi-hit attacks to cover a wide area around Dante.

While in use, performing certain combos will trigger them to speak:
 * During "Crawler", Agni shouts "Die!" and Rudra shouts "Oh, yeah!"
 * During "Twister", Agni shouts "Ashes to ashes!". When you activate "Tempest", Rudra shouts "Dust to dust!" In Tempest, it is possible to keep the tornado going without the flames by rapidly pressing just as the Crazy Combo starts. This variation will inflict more than twice the total damage that a normal "Tempest" would. The lines "Ashes to ashes!" and "Dust to dust!" are also spoken by Nero in Devil May Cry 4 after the Ultimate Move "Showdown".
 * During "Million Slash", Agni and Rudra will start shouting and laughing. For the combo finisher, Dante shouts "Silence!"
 * It is not mentioned, but in order to perform complete Jet Stream level 3, player must hold throughout the attack.

Strategy
They are adept at fighting together, though they can be tricked into hurting each other. However, once one host is defeated, the other will go for the fallen sword, allowing him to become more powerful. It is possible to kill them before they combine. Start by damaging Agni with Cerberus to half health and then switching to Rudra with Rebellion as Rebellion deals more damage to Rudra than Cerberus. After that keep chipping both of their health until they are low. It is advisable to not kill either of them first until they are both extremely low on health.

Other Media Appearances

 * Dante also uses the Agni & Rudra in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. His attacks with them in-game are Twister, Tempest, Jet-Stream, and Sky Dance.
 * Despite not being seen, Agni & Rudra are referenced in Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies. Trucy Wright tells Apollo Justice that he and Phoenix Wright would made a good pair of demonic comedians and that they should name themselves "Agni and Rudra"

Background
In Hinduism, Agni is the god of fire and Rudra is the god of the storm, thought to be an early form of Shiva. Agni is also thought to be the accepter of sacrifices while Rudra is also thought to be a god of diseases.

Trivia

 * Although not physically appearing in Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies, one of the characters, Trucy Wright, suggests that Apollo Justice and Phoenix Wright be named Agni and Rudra respectively, and suggests that they should be a pair of jokers. This is a clear reference to Agni and Rudra as well as their jokey nature.